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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/23292337">The Reunion</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/noisey_burlesque_peach/pseuds/noisey_burlesque_peach'>noisey_burlesque_peach</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Original Work</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Angst, Breaking Up &amp; Making Up, Character Death, F/F, F/M, M/M, Murder Mystery, Original Fiction</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-03-24</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-03-24</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-01 11:21:21</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Major Character Death</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>3,419</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/23292337</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/noisey_burlesque_peach/pseuds/noisey_burlesque_peach</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Five years after they’d broken up, Florence receives a mysterious letter from her recently widowed ex girlfriend inviting her to visit her in her home on The Cape. But a reunion between college friends is never all it’s cracked up to be.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>The Reunion</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The invitation showed up completely unexpectedly. It had been five years since Florence had heard from Beatrice, and here she was inviting her to a dinner party at her beach house in the cape. They meant to stay in contact after they broke up, just two years after college, and they did for a while, but as their lives changed, they grew apart. Now Florence was living in San Diego and had nearly forgotten about the Beatrice and the years they spent together at Umass. </p>
<p>They had been wild in their college years. They stayed up until the early morning partying and managed to get through classes on two hours of sleep just to nap in the afternoon and do it all again that night. On weekends they would pack into Florence’s van and just drive wherever they wanted to go. Sometimes their other friends would go with them, but most of the time it was just the two of them. </p>
<p>They were so into each other, it was gross. Florence never thought she’d find love, but being with Beatrice made her think otherwise. For the first time she was with someone not just to escape the loneliness, but because Beatrice was someone she wanted to be with. They had been invincible, Florence had been convinced that she had met the woman she was going to marry. </p>
<p>They didn’t last forever though. They had fun but the wanted different things out of life. Beatrice wanted kids, Florence didn’t. It was Florence who broke it off in the end. Beatrice had told her that it was alright, that she loves Florence and she didn’t need to have children to make her happy, but Florence could see how it ate at her day after day and decided to do what was right for the both of them. </p>
<p>It’s not like Florence hadn’t heard of her since, however. Beatrice had made quite a name for herself in recent years as a comedian turned actress. There was just something about how sweet she looked compared to her often risque subject material that made the audiences go wild. <br/>There were times where Beatrice was filming in Hollywood, just an hour from where Florence lived. Florence knew she was there, she saw it on her facebook page. It would’ve been easy for her to reach out and meet up, see a movie or go to lunch, but she never did. </p>
<p>What stopped her in the end was the news of Beatrice’s marriage to a co-star of hers. Florence couldn’t quite remember his name, Max something. Or maybe it was Matt. It didn’t matter much now anyway. He passed away a year ago. Some sort of accident at the studio, the details were kept out of the papers. </p>
<p>Maybe that was why Beatrice had invited her to visit. Maybe she was lonely and thought that they could rekindle their relationship, if the spark was even still there. Florence liked to think that they would still have chemistry if they met again. </p>
<p>After receiving the invitation, Florence called Salem, a friend of theirs who had gone to college with them. Salem and Florence both lived in San Diego, in fact, Florence had lived with them after she broke up with Beatrice. </p>
<p>“Hello?” Salem asked over the phone.</p>
<p>“Hey, guess who I just got a letter from.” </p>
<p>“Let me guess, Beatrice?” They said.</p>
<p>“How did you know?” Florence asked, shifting the phone to her other hand to pick up a pen. She wrote the date of the event in her calendar as Salem spoke. </p>
<p>“I got one too. So did Roman. He’s not sure if he wants to go though.” Roman, Salem’s husband had also gone to college with them.</p>
<p>“Tell him he should, it could be fun.”</p>
<p>“Are you sure you’re ready to see Bea again?” The question hit Florence like a punch in the gut. If she was being honest, no. She wasn’t. She had finally gotten to a place in her life where she wasn’t thinking about Bea every day. Sure she still had dreams about her. She was the one that got away, the woman who made her realize that life has meaning beyond the dull monotony of day to day life until you eventually died.</p>
<p>“I don’t know. It’s gonna be rough, but I think I need to see her. I never really got closure,” she said after a moment of thinking. </p>
<p>“Well I’ll be there for you sweetheart. And so will Roman,”</p>
<p>“Thanks. That means a lot to me,” </p>
<p>“Anytime. Take care hon, I’ll see you in a week,” Salem said.</p>
<p>“Yeah. See ya.”</p>
<p>A week later Florence was stepping out of her cab in front of Beatrice’s home. It was a gorgeous place, right on the water, two floors tall with large columns and big windows in every room. The sun hung low in the sky when Florence arrived, casting golden shadows all over. </p>
<p>Florence was greeted at the door by Beatrice. She looked as radiant as the day they parted. Her hair was shorter now, it hung in natural curls around her shoulders, and her eyes had softened with age, no longer baring the sharpness they had once had. Deep smile lines had creased her porcelain skin from years of laughter. Florence was shocked by how good she still looked, and how she still made her heart flutter. </p>
<p>“Florence, it’s so good to see you,” Beatrice said, pulling her in for a tight hug. </p>
<p>“Yeah, you too,” Florence responded. Inside the house Florence could see Roman and Salem chatting away while sipping wine. There was another man with them but Florence couldn’t recognize him from behind. </p>
<p>“Come in, please. Salem, Roman and Jude are already here.” Beatrice ushered her inside, closing the door behind them. </p>
<p>Jude, that’s who the man was. How could she have forgotten Jude? When he turned she recognized him. He was leaner now, having lost the baby fat he carried in his youth, and he looked more sophisticated. He was wearing a suit as opposed to the t-shirts and basketball shorts he wore every day in college. </p>
<p>“Oh, there she is!” Roman said once he saw Florence. She was brought in to hug everyone in the room, starting with Jude, who she still could not believe was really him, and ending with Salem who she had just seen a few days prior. They had considered flying together, but Salem would be arriving early and Florence wanted to spend as little time with Beatrice as possible.</p>
<p>“You look great Jude!” Florence exclaimed. </p>
<p>“I could say the same for you, you all look wonderful.” </p>
<p>“As soon as Ophelia’s here we can start eating,” Beatrice said. </p>
<p>Of course Ophelia would be coming too. Florence saw Jude tense up. He had been in love with Ophelia since they were little. She never really noticed him when they were young. She was always ahead of the rest of them, always onto the new best thing. It was hard to keep up with her. </p>
<p>“You okay?” Roman asked, placing a hand on Jude’s back. </p>
<p>“Yeah, I’m fine man. I’m totally over her,” Jude said. He finished off his wine in one gulp. “Hey Bea, got any more of this?” </p>
<p>Bea lead Jude to the kitchen for a refill, leaving Roman, Salem, and Florence alone. Roman stared at Jude as he walked away. </p>
<p>Oh, that’s still happening? Florence thought. Back in college Roman had a huge crush on Jude. Jude was straight of course, and head over heels for Ophelia. Roman only ever told Florence about his crush, she was the best of them at keeping secrets. After graduation Roman got with Salem. They were still together now, and although Roman loved Salem, he still had feelings deep down for Jude. Florence supposed that that’s what happened in groups that had known each other as long as they all had, especially through their formative years. They were bound to develop feelings for each other. </p>
<p>Half an hour passed and Ophelia still hadn’t arrived. They had all gotten bored by then and were sitting in the lounge, snacking on expensive cheeses and reminiscing about the good old days. </p>
<p>It hadn’t been long enough for them to begin to worry about Ophelia yet, nor was it late enough for them to start dinner without her. Ophelia was not the most punctual among them by far. </p>
<p>“Okay, okay, remember in sophomore year when we snuck into the chem lab?” Salem asked.</p>
<p>“Oh my god yeah. We filled all of the gloves with water and had a water balloon fight.” Florence laughed. </p>
<p>“I thought we were gonna be expelled,” Beatrice said. </p>
<p>They all laughed until a not uncomfortable silence fell over them. </p>
<p>“Hey do you guys remember Kate?” Jude asked. </p>
<p>“Yeah,” Roman said. “She was the best.” </p>
<p>Kate had been a friend of theirs toward the end of Junior year. She was a freshman but she was cool. She could get you anything you needed, alcohol, drugs, anything. Maybe the others wouldn’t, but Florence was willing to admit that they took advantage of her. </p>
<p>“That was the worst night of my life,” Salem said after a few minutes of silence. “She didn’t deserve that.” </p>
<p>“I don’t wanna talk about that,” Beatrice said. Her face that had been smiling all night was now pressed tightly into a frown. </p>
<p>“No, you never do, so we never did. Not to each other, not to her parents, not to the police-”</p>
<p>“Who said anything about the police?” Roman said, cutting Salem off. </p>
<p>“Yeah man, I’m not going down for that, it was an accident,” Jude added. </p>
<p>“Stop it guys, let’s not fight. Please,” Florence begged. </p>
<p>“She’s right, I shouldn’t have brought it up. Let’s forget about it for now,” Jude said</p>
<p>Salem seemed dissatisfied but agreed. If there was one thing about Salem that Florence hated it was how much he enjoyed drama and arguments. He loved to stir the pot. None of them understood it, they just tried to avoid arguing.</p>
<p>“What the hell is taking Ophelia so long?” Beatrice asked, tapping her foot impatiently. “I’ll just call her.” </p>
<p>After a few seconds a ringing could be heard from somewhere in the front hall. They all got up to follow the sound. It seemed to be coming from the closet by the door. </p>
<p>“What’s in there Bea?” Florence asked. </p>
<p>“Just some beach towels.” </p>
<p>Florence stepped forward, taking a deep breath in and pulling the door open. The lifeless body of a woman fell out onto the floor. Beatrice shrieked and jumped back. The rest of them gasped. The woman was Ophelia, still sporting the neon green hair she had throughout college. In her hoodie pocket was a buzzing phone. </p>
<p>“Oh my god!” Roman managed to say. </p>
<p>“What the hell,” was all Florence could manage. On the inside door of the closet was a message scratched into the wood. It read “don’t call the cops”. </p>
<p>“We can’t just leave her there,” Roman said, his face streaked with long dried tears. They all sat around the kitchen table. Ophelia’s body was still in full view. Roman and Beatrice had turned their backs on the body so they didn’t have to see it. Jude was just staring at her. </p>
<p>“What are we supposed to do with her?” Salem snorted. </p>
<p>“Call the cops. Every second we don’t report it we seem more guilty,” Roman said. “Also are we just gonna ignore that creepy ass message carved into the door or...”</p>
<p>“No, we’re not calling the cops. This would ruin my reputation,” Bea said, pouring herself another glass of wine. </p>
<p>“Your reputation? Our friend is dead and you’re worried about your reputation?” Florence scoffed. “You know you’re a lot more shallow than I remember.” </p>
<p>“I have kids Florence, I can’t go to jail. They already lost their dad, I’m not gonna let them lose their mom too.”</p>
<p>“You’re worried you’ll go to jail? That sounds really suspicious Beatrice. This is your house, how do I know you didn’t plan this? Who’s next? Salem? Me?” Florence shouted.</p>
<p>“Wow. I know things ended badly between us but I thought you’d have a little more faith in me,” Beatrice shook her head. “You’re willing to put this all on me because you’re mad that you dumped me? That’s sick Florence.” </p>
<p>“No one’s going to jail, we’ll figure this out,” Roman said, running his hands over his face. </p>
<p>“Just like we figured it out when Kate died, huh?” Salem said.</p>
<p>“Don’t put that on us okay, it wasn’t our fault,” Florence said. </p>
<p>“Yes it was. It was all our fault. We were supposed to be taking care of her, but we got wasted and left her there on those tracks to die.”</p>
<p>“Babe, take a breath-” Roman started but he was cut off by Salem. </p>
<p>“Shut up Roman, you always do this. Not everything can be solved by taking a breath.”</p>
<p>“I’m sorry, I’m just trying to calm everyone down so we can think of a plan before we get arrested for murder!” </p>
<p>“Enough guys!” Jude yelled. “Ophelia is dead and all you can talk about is yourselves. I’m leaving,” Jude got up to leave but a loud crash coming from upstairs stopped him. </p>
<p>“Bea, is anyone else here?” Roman asked. </p>
<p>“No, the kids are with my mom for the night and the housekeeper left hours ago. </p>
<p>“Then what the hell was that?”</p>
<p>They climbed the stairs slowly, Florence in front and Jude bringing up the rear. One by one they searched all the rooms until they got to Beatrice’s bedroom. The only thing out of place was a vase that had been knocked onto the ground by an open window,</p>
<p>“It must’ve been a breeze.” Beatrice sighed with relief. “The winds can get strong out here by the sea. Nothing to worry about.”</p>
<p>“Maybe we should all go to bed and figure this out in the morning,” Roman suggested. </p>
<p>“Yeah, okay,” Jude agreed. “What do we do with Ophelia until then?”</p>
<p>“Let’s put her in the basement,” Beatrice said. </p>
<p>After they hauled Ophelia’s body to the basement and covered it with a tarp, they said their goodnights and went to their rooms. Not Florence however, she was rattled and had too much adrenaline to sleep, so she went outside to sit by the pool to calm herself. It was well dark now and even though it was the middle of summer there was an unsettling chill in the air. This had been the farthest thing from what she had expected to happen when she got the letter from Beatrice. <br/>Florence had made the mistake of not booking a hotel room, figuring that she’d stay with Beatrice for the few days she was in town. If she left now, she'd probably be able to find a place to stay, but that would mean leaving the others to deal with this mess. </p>
<p>Her thoughts were interrupted by the sound of the sliding door opening. Beatrice came out wearing a bathing suit and carrying a towel.</p>
<p>“Hey,” She said. “Mind if I join you?” </p>
<p>“Go ahead.”</p>
<p>“I’m really sorry about this Florence. I swear I didn’t plan it-”</p>
<p>“Hey, I know. It was wrong of me to blame you. Ophelia was your friend, you wouldn’t just kill her,” Florence said, interrupting Beatrice. </p>
<p>“Thank you. That means a lot to me.”</p>
<p>“Why did you invite all of us here anyway?” Florence asked.</p>
<p>Beatrice was silent for a few moments before she responded. </p>
<p>“I saw Kate’s dad at the park the other day. He came up to me and started screaming about how I killed her. I wanted to talk to him, to tell him it was an accident, but I had my daughters with me. After that I just couldn’t stop thinking about college and what happened that night. I decided that whatever came between all of us wasn’t worth losing the best friends I’d ever had,”</p>
<p>Florence took a moment to look at Beatrice, really look at her. She wore a sad smile, one that told Florence that she had dealt with a lot of grief lately. She looked older now, in the blue light reflecting off the pool, she looked tired. But most of all, she looked like the woman Florence fell in love with all those years ago, and never really fell out of love with. </p>
<p>“It’s been hard with Mark gone. Being a single parent is tough. My girls keep asking when daddy’s coming home, and I try to explain it to them but they don’t get in,” Beatrice said after a moment. </p>
<p>“I’m sorry. I know what it’s like to lose someone you love. You think about them all the time, you can’t get away from the memories.”</p>
<p>“I have been thinking about Mark, but mostly I’ve been thinking about you,” Beatrice admitted. <br/>“Don’t get me wrong, I loved him, but you were my first love, my soulmate. What we had doesn’t just go away. Not even after five years.”</p>
<p>“Can I kiss you?” Florence asked. Beatrice nodded. They were leaning in, millimeters apart when they heard a scream from upstairs. </p>
<p>“What was that?” Beatrice asked. </p>
<p>“It sounded like Roman.”</p>
<p>The two of them rushed up the stairs into Roman and Salem’s room. The door was already open and Roman was laying on the ground face down. Jude and Salem were in the room, staring at the body on the ground. </p>
<p>“Jesus Christ, Roman!” Beatrice yelped. She got down and rolled him over. She laid her ear on his chest but she couldn’t hear breathing or a heartbeat. </p>
<p>“He’s dead,” She whimpered. Salem began sobbing. Beatrice held Roman’s body tightly. </p>
<p>“Did you see what happened?” Florence asked.</p>
<p>“No,” Salem cried. “I was talking to Jude when I heard Roman scream. I rushed in and he was like this.”</p>
<p>“That’s it, screw this. I’m calling the cops,” Jude said. </p>
<p>“No, we need to stop splitting up!” Beatrice cried.</p>
<p>“No, fuck that and Fuck you Beatrice, I’m fucking out of here. I should’ve left hours ago,” Jude stormed off down the hall to locate his phone.</p>
<p>“What are we gonna do?” Beatrice asked through tears.</p>
<p>“I don’t know,” Florence said. She was in shock, too upset to say anything more. </p>
<p>“Guys!” Jude called from down the hall. The three of them ran to his room, leaving Roman’s body there. </p>
<p>A man stood in the center of the room. He had Jude in a choke hold and had a needle by his neck, not close enough to pierce his skin but almost. </p>
<p>“Come any closer and he dies,” The man said. </p>
<p>“Who are you?” Florence asked. </p>
<p>“Who am I? It’s been seven years since you killed my little girl and now you wanna know who I am?”</p>
<p>“Kate,” Salem whispered under their breath.</p>
<p>Florence looked to Beatrice for confirmation. She was the only one of them who had seen him since Kate’s funeral. The look on Beatrice’s face was all the confirmation Florence needed. </p>
<p>“That’s right. I’m Kate’s dad, and you are all gonna pay for what you did to her,” He pressed the needle closer to Jude’s neck. </p>
<p>“It was an accident,” Beatrice cried.</p>
<p>“It was murder,” He snarled.</p>
<p>“How did you find out?” Salem asked, taking a step forward. The man took a step back. </p>
<p>“Your little friend ratted you out. Guilty conscious I guess. I made sure she went first so she would suffer the least.”</p>
<p>“It was an accident seven years ago. We’re so sorry but there’s nothing we can do now,” Florence said. </p>
<p>“You can die like she did. She was only eighteen.” Without another word he plunged the needle into Jude’s neck. Jude collapsed to the ground. Now that the man had no leverage over them Salem charged him and pushed him out through the open sliding door and off the balcony onto the pavement below. </p>
<p>“Beatrice call the police, I’ll go make sure he doesn’t get away,” Salem said. </p>
<p>Florence looked out the window at the man who laid on the ground below. She watched as a moment later Salem ran out to the patio to see if he was alive.</p>
<p>The rest of the night was a blur. The police came and arrested Kate’s father who confessed right away. It was too late for Ophelia and Roman but they were able to save Jude. All four of them were brought in for questioning but were declared innocent right away. They were never the same after that night, but how could anyone be?</p>
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